Global Justice Initiative? Are you Kidding?
Jun 15, 2009 Political
The FBI has been quietly re- jiggering the rule of law regarding terrorism, as it has begun to Mirandize terrorists at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan. This is ridiculous, to say the least- the FBI has no business in the middle of a war, and treating combatants as if they were garden variety burglars is asinine- just the completely wrong application of justice.
The FBI and Justice Department plan to significantly expand their role in global counter-terrorism operations, part of a U.S. policy shift that will replace a CIA-dominated system of clandestine detentions and interrogations with one built around transparent investigations and prosecutions.
Under the “global justice” initiative, which has been in the works for several months, FBI agents will have a central role in overseas counter-terrorism cases. They will expand their questioning of suspects and evidence-gathering to try to ensure that criminal prosecutions are an option, officials familiar with the effort said.
Though the initiative is a work in progress, some senior counter-terrorism officials and administration policy-makers envision it as key to the national security strategy President Obama laid out last week — one that presumes most accused terrorists have the right to contest the charges against them in a “legitimate” setting.
The approach effectively reverses a mainstay of the Bush administration’s war on terrorism, in which global counter-terrorism was treated primarily as an intelligence and military problem, not a law enforcement one. That policy led to the establishment of the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba; harsh interrogations; and detentions without trials.
latimes.com
Treating terrorists with kid gloves is just the wrong approach-we can see how well this worked for Clinton, when he bombed an aspirin factory, thinking it was a terrorist bomb- making center- or the times he misfired trying half- heartedly to get bin Laden. Oooops. His bad. But then, he was kind of occupied at the time with blue dresses and kneepads. The FBI, otherwise known as the feebs, should be concentrating on the tax troubles of all the democrats, but I can understand why the dems want the feebs out of the country- anywhere but near Capital Hill, where there are true criminals. No, instead of leaving overseas operations to the CIA, the FBI is going into unfamiliar territory, which will make their job that much harder.
Regardless of where any bad guy is caught, we want the bureau to be in a position to put charges on them,” the official said, adding that the Bush administration’s emphasis on CIA and military operations often marginalized the FBI — especially when it came to interrogating suspects.
Like others interviewed for this article, the official spoke on the condition of anonymity because no one has been authorized to discuss the initiative publicly. “We have no comment on it at this time,” FBI Assistant Director John J. Miller, the bureau’s chief spokesman, said when asked about the initiative.
latimes.com
The CIA has been marginalized, and wrongfully so- they have been the boots on the ground versus the FBI, who will now have to rely on the CIA’s contacts, and that’s going to hurt the flow of information. All this talk of torture has been a red herring- in the first place it is “enhanced discomfort”, and was used on three people, total. In the second place, these are people who do not play by any set of rules, and if we handicap ourselves, we will lose. I will say this again- We Will Lose. Anybody with a lick of common sense will recognize this fact.
When you go into a fight, you go in to win. If you are fighting fair, you are using a losing strategy. Rules are great for parlor games, and football, but if your opponents are cutting your heads off, it is time to get real.
IA spokesman Paul Gimigliano said the agency would continue to play a central role in interrogations and counter-terrorism operations — using techniques approved by the U.S. Army Field Manual– in conjunction with other U.S. agencies.
Behind the scenes, some intelligence officials are resisting a broader criminal justice role overseas for the FBI, contending that it could inhibit the flow of intelligence if their own agents, or foreign governments, believe top-secret sources and methods might be disclosed during criminal prosecutions.
Two senior U.S. officials said efforts are being made to ensure that intelligence-gathering and law enforcement efforts proceed side by side. They stressed that the CIA and military would continue to play pivotal roles, particularly in gaining strategic intelligence against terrorist groups and thwarting future attacks.
latimes.com
Yes, I am sure, with all the turf wars in the past, that the CIA, the Military, AND the FBI will get along swimmingly. After all, haven’t they always? You know, there is a reason that the CIA is forbidden from domestic operations- the FBI should be forbidden from overseas operations, simply because it makes sense- you have a territorial familiarity that goes along with your principal duties, and I can guarantee that the CIA knows the streets of Kabul much better than the FBI, and should be in the lead.
But that wouldn’t suit Husseins’ New World Order, now would it? I believe it is time to rename Hussein FUBAR- because this is what he wants to do with our country,
Next, he’ll send Andy Griffith and Barney to Pakistan- oh joy.
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Tags: CIA, FBI, foolishness, Terrorism
An Out For Pelosi And Others
May 23, 2009 Political
Nancy Pelosi has been embroiled in a dispute over what she knew and when she knew it. She has lied about her knowledge of waterboarding being used and went so far as to claim the CIA lied to her and to Congress and that they lie all the time. She said mislead but as one liberal commenter noted when he discussed Dick Cheney, mislead is a polite way of saying lie.
Pelosi was aware of what was going on but she believed that her involvement would be kept quiet because what she was told was classified information. Unfortunately for her, Obama released the classified information to to discredit the Bush administration but the release swept her up in the process. When the CIA defended itself, it implicated Pelosi and demonstrated that she was a liar.
A former South Korean president has demonstrated a way for her to save face (not the Botox way she is use to) and this method is sure fire. It will remove her from the problem and remove the problem from her. In addition, it will save the American citizens the time this is consuming and the cost associated to determine which he said/she said is the right said.
Former President Roh Moo-hyun, embroiled in a penetrating corruption investigation, leaped to his death Saturday — a shocking fall from grace for a man whose rags-to-riches rise took him from rural poverty to Seoul’s presidential Blue House. He was 62. Yahoo News
[note]Funny how they said he leaped to his death and it was a fall from grace…[/note]
This is a great example for Pelosi to follow. She can do the right thing and jump off one of the bridges in her district.
Come to think of it, there are many politicians who could do the same thing in order to make America a better place.
They have to jump off a very high bridge and into water. What they are full of splatters and we don’t need to be cleaning up any more of their messes.
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Tags: CIA, lies, Pelosi, Roh Moo-hyun, waterboarding
Speaker Of The House Can’t Speak For Herself
May 16, 2009 Political
Nancy Pelosi keeps digging the hole she is in deeper each time she opens her mouth. The video of her trying to lie her way out of the mess shows a flustered person grasping for words that can’t be shown untrue and for words that will appease the people listening. She is in a downward spiral and even though dyed in the wool liberals will defend and support her, America is seeing the true Pelosi. She is a calculating politician who only cares about power.
Case in point; she claimed that she was against the water boarding, that she was not, repeat not, informed about (how can one oppose that which one is unaware) because she was too focused on winning Democratic seats in Congress. That’s right, after 9/11 her concern was winning seats and not national security.
Pelosi has had many, I repeat many, versions of her story and they all contradict each other and they contradict the truth. I believe Hillary would call it a willing suspension of disbelief. According to Pelosi, she did not know, was not, repeat, not informed, heard from someone else, and then knew about it. Along the way she has ticked off more than a few professionals in the intelligence community. You see, Nancy called them liars.
Pelosi is backtracking on her recent claim that the CIA lied to Congress (and her) about the Enhanced Interrogation Techniques. She now claims that she meant that the Bush administration was lying to her. I was wondering how long it would take her to follow Obama’s lead and blame it all on Bush. That always seems to get the liberal base all riled up. The problem is, Pelosi clearly blamed the CIA. She is now saying that she did not mean them but her words at the time made it quite clear about whom she was talking. Here is what Pelosi said during her attempted backpedal:
“My criticism of the manner in which the Bush Administration did not appropriately inform Congress is separate from my respect for those in the intelligence community who work to keep our country safe,” Pelosi said in a statement. The Hill
The reality is, she blamed the Bush administration AND she called the CIA liars. She specifically said that the CIA misleads Congress ALL THE TIME. She did say the Bush administration misled Congress with regard to weapons of mass destruction but her words directly implicated the administration AND the CIA as liars. If she had only called the people in the Bush administration liars it is unlikely that Panetta would have released the memos and defended the Agency. He had to defend it because Pelosi directly attacked it. Here are a few of her quotes:
Pelosi was particularly harsh in describing the CIA.
“They mislead us all the time,” she said. And when a reporter asked whether the agency lied, she did not disagree. Breitbart
“I am saying that the C.I.A. was misleading the Congress and at the same time the administration was misleading the Congress on weapons of mass destruction,” Ms. Pelosi said. The New York Times
Here we have Pelosi clearly calling the CIA liars and saying that they misled Congress while Bush was misleading on WMD (which he was not).
As anyone who is not a Kool Aid drinking liberal can see, Pelosi was clear and she meant what she said but now that she has ticked off the intelligence folks even more, she had to say she only meant the Bush administration. She mentioned them BOTH and there is no doubt about what she meant.
This woman is the Speaker of the House. She can’t even speak for herself.
As my other writer Blake says, she is on medication but to me it looks like she forgot to take it or the dose needs to be increased.
Remember, Pelosi was more concerned with getting Democrats elected than protecting the country or paying attention to her job.
She is a typical Democrat and she needs to step down as Speaker.
Then, the people in San Fran need to vote Gaspy Pelosi out of office.
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Tags: Bush, CIA, democrat, lies, Obama, Pelosi, water boarding
Piling On Pelosi
May 15, 2009 Political
The Director of the CIA, Leon Panetta, issued a letter to his people indicating that the CIA had been honest with Congress and that they should not let the noise interfere with their job of keeping America safe. In other words, this Obama appointee called Pelosi a liar.
That’s right. Panetta said the CIA told the truth to Congress even though Pelosi said that the CIA lied. Looks like Pelosi has ticked off a lot of spies who are fighting back against allegations made for political purposes.
Pelosi is in deep and many Democrats are moving away from her so as not to be associated with her and her ever changing story about what she knew and when.
The Republicans are all over this and Congressman Steve King (R-IA) has called for Pelosi to resign as Speaker. The hits just keep on coming for the clueless Pelosi.
As of now there are no Democrats publicly calling for her to step down but I am sure there are plenty who want her to. Many did not support her being selected as Speaker and those who did are now seeing why it was a bad idea.
If this keeps going (and there is no reason to think it will not) then there will be more calls for her resignation. Pelosi is a black eye for the Democrats and for Congress in general. The media are going after this story which in and of itself is unusual. Once they turn against a Democrat the end cannot be far behind.
If we are lucky she will resign and then be voted out of office.
What a disgrace.
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Tags: CIA, leon panetta, lies, memo, nancy pelosi
Now Pelosi Says She Was Misled
May 15, 2009 Political
Nancy Pelosi has been under fire for a few weeks now because of her claims that she was never told that Enhanced Interrogation Techniques (EIT) were used. She has maintained that she was informed that there was legal opinion that they were allowed but that they had yet to be used. This claim runs contrary to the information provided by the CIA, information which shows that Pelosi was informed that the EITs (particularly water boarding) had already been used. This version is also consistent with the information provided by others who were at the briefings.
Pelosi has changed he story a few times and now she is reverting to the political game of claiming to be misled. She is also blaming the Bush administration for her problems (nothing new here). Pelosi has taken it a step further and made the claim that the CIA misled her and lied to Congress. Pelosi admitted that she knew about the EITs being used (thereby admitting that she lied) but that the CIA misled Congress when discussing them.
I do not, for one moment, believe that Pelosi was misled about anything but let’s accept that as true for a moment. Pelosi claimed to have been misled on WMD and the reasons for war and now she claims to have been misled on EITs. Do we really want a moron who is so easily misled serving in Congress? Basically, Pelosi is telling everyone she is not competent and that she is unable to discern information from what she receives. The others at the briefings have indicated they were well aware of what was said and what was being done. At the time Pelosi indicated that she understood but now is claiming she was misled. If she is this inept then she should not be in Congress.
The moment has passed and so has the supposition that she is telling the truth about being misled so we are back to reality. Pelosi was all in favor of doing what it took to get information and she did not voice any objections to the EITs when she was briefed on them. Now that her buddy in the White House has released the Bush memos she has been caught in the firestorm.
The intention was to embarrass Bush and to show Democratic supporters how wonderful Obama is and how he is going after those who used the EITs. The CIA was not too happy and it decided to defend the agency and its people by releasing the briefings that were conducted and this is where Pelosi was caught in her lie. While those briefings were classified she could maintain that she knew nothing but once they were released she had to tap dance around the issue and start deflecting. This is why she has changed her story several times and why she is now accusing the CIA of lying and claiming to have been misled by the CIA and the Bush administration. She is also calling this a Republican distraction.
The reality is, Pelosi was all for going after OTHERS who were involved when she believed that she was in the clear but now that she has been exposed as a liar she wants to again lie about her involvement and lay the blame at the CIA’s feet.
If she were as pure as the driven snow, as she wants people to believe, then she would not look like a deer caught in a car’s headlights during her press conferences. The last one shows a nervous Pelosi who is obfuscating the issue and dancing around the questions. She is also doing what all the Democrats like to do when caught and that is blame Bush.
Nancy Pelosi is a liar and she has been caught. Her base cannot be happy that she lied to them for years about her opposition to EITs when the records clearly show she knew all about them and she was on board. She knows that this could be an opening for another person to challenge her for her seat in the 2010 elections and it could certainly result in her losing her position as the Speaker the next time Democrats select one.
Pelosi is part of the cancer that is consuming this country and she has been exposed. It is time for the people of her district to cut the cancer out and start with something fresh.
If they put her back in office it will mean that they are OK with her lies and with her support of the EITs. If that happens they lose any future argument on the issue.
I would not be surprised if the CIA helps someone beat Pelosi. She insulted the agency’s professionalism and she called the people there liars. That is no way to treat an intelligence gathering agency and I am sure they did not take too kindly to her accusations.
Perhaps they can come up with a few surprises to take her down.
Sources:
My Way News
The New York Times
Politico
The Wall Street Journal
Wall Street Journal (2)
Related:
Wall Street Journal
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Tags: CIA, lies, misled, Pelosi, water boarding